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Pharmaceuticals
Special Issues
Adjuvant Therapies for Cancer Treatment: 2nd Edition
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Adjuvant Therapies for Cancer Treatment: 2nd Edition

A special issue of Pharmaceuticals (ISSN 1424-8247). This special issue belongs to the section "Pharmacology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 22 October 2025 | Viewed by 648

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Fuyi Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
CAS Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Living Biosystems, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
Interests: anticancer drug design; nutural bioactive products; interactomics of drugs; chemical biology of drugs; mass spectrometry; mass spectrometry imaging; chemical proteomics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

To improve cancer survival and prevent the recurrence of the disease and metastasis, we need to find new compounds and therapeutic strategies, as well as apply drug repurposing and combined therapies. This means that better adjuvant therapies to improve cancer cures need to be found in the next decade.

Adjuvant therapy may take the form of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, biological therapy, hormone therapy, and targeted therapy.

Adjuvant therapy is used after an initial treatment (such as surgery) or before as a neoadjuvant. Both applications have advantages (such as reducing tumor size, preventing tumor cells from spreading/metastasis, and eliminating any remaining malignant cells after surgery and disease recurrence) and disadvantages (such as serious side effects).

Omics studies and biological approaches have brought about a lot of knowledge of alterations and signaling deregulations in several cancer types and profiles related to outcome and drug efficacy. Cancer resistance occurs in different types of tumors and patients under different treatments, where some therapies are associated with specific resistance mechanisms (such as drug efflux, autophagy, apoptosis blockage, metabolism reprogramming, mutations, and stemness). However, the next steps in oncology will be to connect molecular data with clinical practice and offer a potential and specific protocol to the patient for cancer treatment.

This Special Issue is dedicated to illustrating new findings in adjuvant therapy applied for cancer treatment and highlighting the gaps and new directions in this field.

Prof. Dr. Fuyi Wang
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pharmaceuticals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • drug repurposing
  • combined therapies
  • new compounds
  • drug resistance
  • chemosensitization
  • antitumoral strategies

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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16 pages, 1346 KiB  
Article
In Vitro Evaluation of Cytotoxic and Pro-Apoptotic Effects of Hesperidin Alone and in Combination with Cisplatin on Human Malignant Melanoma Cell Line (A431)
by Mehmet Uğur Karabat, Mehmet Cudi Tuncer and İlhan Özdemir
Pharmaceuticals 2025, 18(6), 854; https://doi.org/10.3390/ph18060854 (registering DOI) - 7 Jun 2025
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Melanoma is an aggressive skin cancer with high metastatic potential and poor prognosis in advanced stages. Hesperidin, a natural flavonoid, has shown anticancer properties across various malignancies. This study aimed to evaluate the antiproliferative and pro-apoptotic effects of Hesperidin, alone and in [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Melanoma is an aggressive skin cancer with high metastatic potential and poor prognosis in advanced stages. Hesperidin, a natural flavonoid, has shown anticancer properties across various malignancies. This study aimed to evaluate the antiproliferative and pro-apoptotic effects of Hesperidin, alone and in combination with Cisplatin, on the human epidermoid carcinoma cell line A431. Materials and Methods: A431 cells were cultured under standard conditions and treated with different concentrations of Hesperidin and Cisplatin for 48 h. Cell viability was assessed using the MTT assay. Apoptosis was evaluated by Annexin V-FITC/PI staining and caspase-3/7 activity assays. Expression levels of Bax, caspase-3/7, and survivin were measured by RT-qPCR. Results: Hesperidin significantly reduced cell viability at both 24 and 48 h. Annexin V/PI staining revealed increased apoptosis, with the highest apoptotic ratio in the Hesperidin + Cisplatin group (p < 0.001). Caspase-3/7 activity was markedly elevated in Hesperidin-treated cells. RT-qPCR showed upregulation of Bax and caspase-3/7 and downregulation of survivin. Conclusions: Hesperidin demonstrated significant cytotoxic and pro-apoptotic effects in A431 cells. When combined with Cisplatin, a synergistic enhancement of apoptosis was observed. These findings support the potential of Hesperidin as a complementary agent in carcinoma therapy, pending further in vivo and clinical validation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Adjuvant Therapies for Cancer Treatment: 2nd Edition)
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23 pages, 2798 KiB  
Article
The Cordyceps Genus as a Potential Source of Bioactive Compounds for Adjuvant Cancer Therapy: A Network Pharmacology Approach
by Jose Luis Gonzalez-Llerena, Daniela Treviño-Almaguer, Jesus Alejandro Leal-Mendez, Gael Garcia-Valdez, Arely Guadalupe Balderas-Moreno, Michel Stéphane Heya, Isaias Balderas-Renteria, María del Rayo Camacho-Corona and Bryan Alejandro Espinosa-Rodriguez
Pharmaceuticals 2025, 18(5), 667; https://doi.org/10.3390/ph18050667 - 30 Apr 2025
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Abstract
Background/Objectives: Cancer remains one of the leading causes of mortality globally, underscoring the need for novel therapeutic strategies capable of targeting multiple molecular pathways simultaneously. Natural products, particularly fungal-derived metabolites from the genus Cordyceps, represent promising candidates due to their diverse biological [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Cancer remains one of the leading causes of mortality globally, underscoring the need for novel therapeutic strategies capable of targeting multiple molecular pathways simultaneously. Natural products, particularly fungal-derived metabolites from the genus Cordyceps, represent promising candidates due to their diverse biological activities. Although previous studies have indicated the anticancer potential of Cordyceps species, systematic characterization of their molecular targets has been limited. This study aimed to comprehensively identify and evaluate Cordyceps metabolites as potential multitarget anticancer agents through a network pharmacology approach. Methods: A total of 129 metabolites previously reported in the literature from polar aqueous, alcoholic, and non-polar extracts of Cordyceps were compiled and chemically classified using ChemMine tools. Structure-based target prediction and pathway enrichment analyses were performed to investigate their potential biological targets. Predicted molecular targets were cross-referenced with differentially expressed genes in breast, colorectal, and lung cancers to identify hub proteins. Molecular docking simulations were conducted to assess binding affinities of metabolites to key oncogenic targets, and SwissADME was utilized for pharmacokinetic profiling. Results: The analysis revealed that Cordyceps metabolites targeted critical oncogenic pathways, including cell cycle regulation, DNA replication, and apoptosis. Hub proteins such as TYMS, AURKA, and CDK1 were identified as primary targets. Docking simulations highlighted metabolites such as cordycepsidone A, jiangxienone, and flazin, demonstrating binding affinities comparable or superior to clinically used inhibitors. Pharmacokinetic profiling identified several metabolites with favorable drug-like properties, supporting their potential as lead compounds. Conclusions:Cordyceps extracts contain structurally diverse metabolites capable of modulating multiple cancer-relevant molecular targets, providing a robust foundation for their development into multitarget anticancer therapies. This integrative network pharmacology approach underscores the potential of fungal metabolites in oncology drug discovery. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Adjuvant Therapies for Cancer Treatment: 2nd Edition)
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